igor prokopyev: simferopol seminar

From Severodvisk, I traveled to Moscow by train and from Moscow I flew to Simferopol, Ukraine. Alex Alexandroff traveled from Cherepovets to Simferopol while Andrey Sorokin and I were still teaching the seminar in Severodvinsk. Alex got to Simferopol one day earlier to teach at Vineyard Church on Sunday. I arrived next day. Andrey, 39, the host pastor and Alex were there at the airport to pick me up and transfer to the apartment. Next day, I opened the conference and did the introduction. Some 45 church leaders came to study the inductive Bible study technique in order to teach and preach expository messages and feed the flock on the green grass of the Word of God!

Through the years Alex and I learned a simple truth, when you proclaim the Word of God, the Holy Spirit comes and fills the room with His glory! The strong presence of God filled the room and stayed there from the very beginning to the end of the conference! Praise the Lord! It was powerful! We knew for sure that God had something important for us to do! We stayed in Simferopol 5 more days teaching, preaching, ministering, talking, and meeting with people in private. The seminar went just fabulous! Many souls were healed, encouraged, empowered, and renewed! Some of the participants wrote us emails. Their letters encouraged all of us at ICM-Russia grow this ministry! On behalf of all the students and ICM Russia crew, Olga and I would like to express our gratitute to all of you who believe in us, pray and support us out of your own means! (Luke 8:1-3) Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

finding the need... feeding the poor...

The minute you arrive into Russia you see the spiritual need! People need Jesus! You do not have to dig deep in order to find a physical need either. It is on the surface. We met these kids in the streets, talked to them and they brought us to their apartment.

This particular family arrived in Cherepovets about 3 month ago from Takzhikistan. It was very hard for them to find a job with such a little Russian they had at their command. So, the kids ended up in the streets collecting cans and empty bottles, recycling them, and getting some money to buy bread! Our hearts went out to them! We decided to bless them with both physical and spiritual food!

Nelly, Olga, Irene decided to visit children on a regular basis to feed them, share the Word, do crafts, play and pray with them. If you feel like participating in our Feeding the Poor project, you can join us in prayer for them and send funds to enable us to grow this ministry!

igor prokopyev: severodvinsk IBS seminar

Dear Partners and Friends! Thank you so very much for your support and prayers!

In the first part of December I was invited to Heart to Heart Church of Severodvinsk, Russia to do an IBS Level 2. I called Andrey Sorokin on the phone and asked him if he wanted to go. Andrey gladly agreed to travel with me to Severodvinsk and get some more training on how to do Level 2 of the Productive Bible Study Seminar. On December 5 we took a train from Cherepovets to Severodvinsk and on December 6 we started the conference.

Andrey opened with prayer. All 25 leaders joined him in worshipping Jesus! You could sense that those people knew how to treasure the presence of the Lord! That was sweet! Many things about this trip deeply moved me, but one of the things that most struck me in my spirit was the dedication of those young men to prayer and the Word of God! They had determined to pray and abide in the Word to glorify God in the town! You could tell they learned to believe God for miracles in different circumstances and situations!

Believers in the Heart To Heart Church were very active and fast! In answering my questions they always hit the target! I was tremendously blessed with what I saw in that beautiful church. It was so much fun teaching and training them on how to prepare and lead a small disscussion group and how to prepare a message and feed the flock on the Word of God!

andrey sorokin: my first IBS seminar...

Hello everyone! My name is Andrey Sorokin! Like Avenir and Irene Kalinkin, my wife Svetlana and I have a desire to see what God is going to do in us and through us as we travel and conduct Inductive Bible Study seminars! Igor and Alex had been training and equipping me for a year so that I might be able to go on short-term missions trips and equip church leadership and Christian workers on how to study the Bible inductively! This was my first time I went to conduct a seminar on my own! Avenir traveled with me to help me do the course! As we arrived in to Velsk the pastor of the church picked us up at the train station and brought us to a very wonderful couple from his church! These guys had been saved for a couple of years and they want to start a Bible study at their apartment! We made friends with them and many others from the church! I will never forget how excited people were when they gathered together to study the Word! The seminar went just fabulous! I liked the atmosphere in the building! People worshipped the Lord sincerely from the bottom of their hearts! Some 40 Christian workers and church leaders went through the course! I was able to give the inductive Bible study tools to all of them so that they might be able to feed themselves and the flock on the Word of God! It was such a blessing to see them working hard on their assignments! We did small disscussion groups as well. And people just loved it! You should see them trying to find answers from the text! They were so focused! And I liked that!

avenir kalinkin: my first IBS seminar

I always wanted see God in my life. And the desire was huge! One day my wife Irene and I shared about our desire with Igor Prokopyev and Alex Alexandroff and their hearts went out to us! Igor and Alex said that if I want to see God in action I need to act upon Matt. 28:19,20! I knew this scripture, I knew the truth! It is God's promise: "I am with you always... even to the end of this age." Jesus also says in this scripture: "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations!" Igor and Alex invested into me and my wife a lot! And we thank them for that! God is amazing! He blessed us with finances, time to study and apply what we had learned in our every day life!!! And we praise God for that! One day Pastor Zhenya Shkryabin, 38, called ICM-Russia office and invited Igor to come teach the course on how to study the bible productively! I am so blessed that Igor sent me to the small town called Blagoveshensk, Russia to do the seminar. It was my first seminar I was about to do all by myself. It was exciting, you know! I wanted to see what God was going to do in that church through ICM seminar and through me so bad! When I arrived to the site I realized that the majority of the Body is poor elderly peasants.

They didn't have much but they were hungry for the Word of God! My heart went out to them! All of a sudden I loved them and that was Christ's love. I knew the Lord wanted them to learn how to abide in the scriptures and see Him, His love, His kindness, mercy and grace in His Word! I said to my God: "I am going to do my best in giving them the inductive Bible Study tools but I need your help!" And He did! When I opened my mouth God gave me words to encourage church leaders, bless and train them well! All the participants and they were 12 of them, started working hard digging deep in to the Word of God with me! Some of them had a very bad sight and I thought they would not be able to do assignments in writing but our God is an awesome God! He filled them up with the Holy Spirit and enabled them to do the job! I am telling you the truth, I saw miracles! Praise the Lord for that! One day I was about to interupt them and move on but they would not stop... they finished the assignment! That was powerful! The participants love the course, disscussed on God's mercy, grace, healing and redemption! Jesus Himself was there in our midst touching our hearts! Some shed the tear, some went into worship and prayer! Jesus was glorified and magnified. At the closing session the participants shared about what God had done during the seminar. Their testimonies were great! They said hello and sent their love to all of us in Cherepovets and all of you in the states! As for me personally, I would like to say Big Thank-You to all of you who continue to pray and support the Intensive Care Ministries Russia!